Hoarders and other stuff

I have become quite interested in the phenomenon of hoarding.  I never knew that such a thing existed till I started watching a tv show on A&E network called Hoarders.  It is quite fascinating how people with this affliction survive and live.  I am no psychiatrist but here is my explanation of what it is. Hoarding is an illness whereby people get emotionally attached to things to such an extent that they cannot part with even the trash they may have in their homes.  A lot of them are compulsive shoppers and they go out and buy things they don't even need.  Most of these homes they show have piles and piles in every room with items and trash so that you cannot even walk in the rooms. One woman could not get to her bathroom so that she had two years of used adult diapers in trash bags in her house.  One man had 500,000 beer cans he was collecting.

I guess I am what you would call a pack rat.  I am also sentimental and I am afraid I will forget the memories that I want to keep if I should throw something out, which happens to also be a trait of a hoarder.  But I can throw things away, I just put off doing it.  Very much a procrastinator.  I have a lot of stuff I need to clear out and go through before I move this summer.  Lots of stress there and I think hoarders feel a lot of stress they can't deal with.  This leads me to other stuff:

A Bible study on stress that I just read says that there are 4 causes of stress:
People
Events
Thoughts
Emotions

People cause stress through personality, values, and character traits.  Some people energize us and others exhaust us.  I would rather energize people and be an encourager than to wear them out with my presence.  But I don't know if I'm always the encourager I want to be.

Events can cause stress.  Sickness, problems in the workplace, marital difficulties. Anything is an event in your life.  I can feel stress by watching somebody sing on television that I absolutely can't stand.  the stress reliever for that is to turn it off!  Decision making is an event that causes stress.  I have a lot of decisions to make in the next few months about jobs, new place to live, getting stuff ready to move, getting it moved, getting settled, paying for everything, keeping my health and sanity in the process.  I'm feeling the stress already!  The strain of the divorce is very telling for me.  I am tired a lot.  I sleep a lot more because I am depressed about the direction my life is going. I miss having friends to hang out with.  I don't go anywhere but the grocery store, the doctor and church, and to the bank occasionally.  I even miss working to some extent.  I guess I miss productivity.

Thoughts are a big stress producer, especially when they are negative and pulling you down.  Being honest with myself about how I feel is important because I need to be validated in these thoughts.  If I feel I am not honest or misleading myself or others then I am causing myself and others stress. A busy mind that never stops is a peace robber.  I need to slow down and just meditate on the Word of God and the peace that passes all understanding.

Emotional stress is a biggie.  Anger is another peace robber.  To feel hostility toward others is self-defeating.  I am hurting myself more than the other person.  Feeling hopeless is a feeling I often have these days.  But I should always have hope because God is in charge, not me.  Discouragement is a palpable emotion that can really take over my life if I let it.  I have a lot of reasons to be discouraged right now but I would really rather hang on to hope.  That's why I am trying not to worry too much about my situation (even though I wrote about all my anxiety a few weeks ago).  I have been praying about my situation and although I really have no answers yet I feel like God heard me and He's gonna move when it's time to move.  I've been able to get to church in the last few weeks except for this past Sunday.  It was good and uplifting to be there.  I just wish I felt like I fit in.  I don't feel that way yet. So that causes me some emotional stress, but I'm not gonna quit going just cause I don't have a group of friends to hang out with there.  The purpose is to worship God and encourage others in their worship of God.

I do solicit the prayers of every one who reads these words.  I would love it if you would respond with prayer requests for yourselves or for others as you have need to.  I can post a weekly prayer list every week and answers to those prayers later.